Rising Up: Meet Jafar
- Lucy
- May 28
- 3 min read
For the first nine years of his life, Jafar didn't receive an education. Life with his five siblings, their parents, and their grandfather in the slum area of Seelampur in north-east Delhi was challenging.
Typical of the estimated 3.5 million people living in slum housing in Delhi, poverty, weather-dependent diseases, abysmal air quality, and the lack of sanitation were daily battles. Most homes - Jafar’s grandfather's one-room dwelling included - lacked toilets, forcing people to defecate in open fields or use limited community facilities.
The concept of education as an accelerator to a better future battled head-on with children lacking official papers, girls being married off at a young age, illiterate parents, and children being sent to work to help support the family income.
In 2011, when Jafar was nine years old, he was connected with Salaam Baalak Trust (SBT) and the Mobile School Bus programme. He explains, “I hadn’t had any kind of school before this. The bus travelled to underprivileged areas in the city, providing education to children. I spent a year learning on this bus which helped me acquire basic reading and writing skills. After this, SBT assisted us in obtaining the necessary documents for school admissions and helped enrol me into a formal school.”
When the bus service stopped visiting Seelampur, Jafar’s connection with the Trust was lost.
Ten years later, after completing 12th grade, Jafar faced difficulties in college, particularly with English communication.
“I met Neelam, a social worker from SBT, and shared this difficulty with her. She visited my home, and I tried my best to converse in English during our meeting. Soon after, the charity offered me an opportunity to join the SBT City Walk programme, and I now work as a guide. I take English-speaking visitors around the area near New Delhi station and Paharganj, sharing my experiences and continuing my education. It helped change my life. I completed my degree in Political Science with honours last year, and I’m thinking about doing a Masters from a good university abroad. To fulfil this dream, I will have to improve my English a little more.”
In some ways, life in Seelampur has improved compared to a decade ago; Swachh Bharat, the government’s toilet-building mission, has helped, and Jafar’s younger sisters are doing well with their studies through the SBT Contact Point there.
Sadly, Jafar’s father passed away last year, making life for the family much harder. There are also issues with drinking water availability in the slum, and Jafar fears for his brothers due to drug abuse – and the crime that accompanies it - escalating in the locality. “My younger brothers could be influenced by this. I am considering sending them away from this environment, perhaps to a hostel, but first, I need to strengthen our financial situation. I hope that one day, everything will be better.”